Even though I won't be playing, I would like to add my name to the voices expressing disappointment that the tournament is being held at Hilton in Chicago for a third straight year. The ICT used to be a great opportunity to travel across the United States, and see a new city, and probably a new University. That system evened out regional privilege, and provided some great experiences. The current system of parking the tournament in Chicago (a city not devoid of Universities, but apparently devoid enough to require a University tournament to take place off campus in a city where the LRT from the airport is excellent) consistently keeps the tournament remote from the same universities, does not allow for new travel experiences (not to knock Chicago, there's plenty to see-but there's also a lot to see in say, New York and LA, both of which have airports and Hiltons), and does no favours to help hosts gain experience at National tournaments (a job which now presumably falls to ACF). NAQT is better than this, and in my opinion, the Quizbowl community deserves better than this.

Just as a pre-emptive clarification: while I disagree with this decision, I in no way wish to impugn the motives of NAQT or its staff (who are competent, professional, and in my experience, extremely devoted to quality quizbowl). I enjoy NAQT's tournaments immensely, they were what got me into quizbowl, and this one decision, while disappointing, does not alter the way I feel about the organization or its awesome staff.

NAQT has recently been informed that an adult-themed entertainment convention will also be at the hotel the weekend of the ICT. The hotel has ensured that the other event will take place on a level of the hotel that no one associated with our tournament will be on, their events will have security to ensure that no one else can get on the level where the event is taking place, and the view of that level will be obstructed. Additionally, all attendees at this event will have to be appropriately dressed while they are in public areas of the hotel. We do not believe that this causes any problem with the ICT, but thought it was fair to inform all of our attendees that this will be going on so there are no surprises.

bt_green_warbler wrote:NAQT has recently been informed that an adult-themed entertainment convention will also be at the hotel the weekend of the ICT. The hotel has ensured that the other event will take place on a level of the hotel that no one associated with our tournament will be on, their events will have security to ensure that no one else can get on the level where the event is taking place, and the view of that level will be obstructed. Additionally, all attendees at this event will have to be appropriately dressed while they are in public areas of the hotel. We do not believe that this causes any problem with the ICT, but thought it was fair to inform all of our attendees that this will be going on so there are no surprises.

bt_green_warbler wrote:NAQT has recently been informed that an adult-themed entertainment convention will also be at the hotel the weekend of the ICT. The hotel has ensured that the other event will take place on a level of the hotel that no one associated with our tournament will be on, their events will have security to ensure that no one else can get on the level where the event is taking place, and the view of that level will be obstructed. Additionally, all attendees at this event will have to be appropriately dressed while they are in public areas of the hotel. We do not believe that this causes any problem with the ICT, but thought it was fair to inform all of our attendees that this will be going on so there are no surprises.

...would this happen to be the same one as HSNCT a few years ago?

Greg PetersonNorthwestern Law '18Lawrence University '11Maine South HS '07

If anyone reading this is interested in staffing the ICT in Chicago (the usual comments about NAQT reimbursing airfare and hotel along with covering lunch on Saturday apply), please drop me an email at gluskin at naqt dot com . We are still looking for staff for the tournament. If anyone has any questions about staffing, please let me know as well.

Bracket A: Yale has cleared, Penn & Brown have two losses and are playing a tiebreaker after lunch. Bracket B: Chicago and Maryland advance, MIT in 3rd.Bracket C: Minnesota and Illinois advance, Michigan in 3rd.Bracket D: Harvard, UVA and UCSD are all tied for first.

Congratulations to Virginia A, which defeated Illinois A 545-150 in the first game of an advantaged final to win the 2012 Division I ICT! Yale took third place. Illinois A was the Undergraduate Champion. In Division II, Harvard went undefeated to win the tournament. NYU was second and Michigan State third. Chipola was the Top Community College Team.

Please note that there are several future tournaments using the Division II ICT set, so I have set up a private forum for question-specific discussion. Please select the "ICT 2012" group from your user control panel.